• After the famous avocado toast, which made a splash in the early 2000s and continues to be part of the menu of many consumers, an American company announces the launch of a bread that has among its ingredients the avocado fruit.
The deceptively simple pairing of creamy avocado with crusty bread began to take shape in the early 1990s when the late Sydney Chef Bill Granger added it to the menu at his trendy Darlinghurst café.
But it was the American actress, author, health activist and founder of the company Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow, who raised this dish to the heights of glory. In the 2013 print edition of his book "It's All Good", Paltrow presented the recipe that would come to the attention of the entire world map: vegan mayonnaise, a few slices of perfectly ripe avocado and salt Maldon, all placed on top of toasted slices of gluten-free bread.
The banal recipe caused a stir, with Millennials unleashing themselves in the online environment. Avocado toast has gone viral, and variations on the theme have taken off, from adding hot sauce to Cholula to being topped with eggs, mesh or poached, or even replacing the bread with fried sweet potato slices!
In the top of consumer preferences
The creamy avocado fruit, first cultivated in Mesoamerica over 5.000 years ago, has thus conquered the Internet, remaining consistently at the top of consumer preferences. But how is this phenomenon explained? Certainly thanks to the major health benefits contained in the green fruit.
Rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, omega 3 fatty acids and essential nutrients for the body (it even has more potassium than a banana), avocados are the perfect antioxidant ingredient that meets what Millennials are looking for: tasty and healthy.
With the launch of its latest brand, The Avocado Bread Company (ABC), which taps into not one, but four of today's key trends ( plant-based, clean label, health benefits and savory taste ) New Jersey-based Anthony & Sons Bakery is hoping to recreate the frenzy of the 2010s when avocado toast was the star of the Internet.
Despite its success, the company owned by Sicilian emigrant Anthony Dattolo with sons Baldo and Joseph, remains focused on the production of traditional artisan bread, kneaded by hand, without artificial flavors or additives.
The company representatives even proudly state that they are leaders when it comes to developing products with clean, natural, non-GMO and trans fat-free ingredients.
The Avocado Bread Company is a unique line of wholemeal bakery products with the addition of avocado fruit, an innovation received with real enthusiasm by American consumers.
The absolute star of the ABC range is the bread Avocado Seeds & Grains Bread – made with ripe avocado and an original blend of spices – followed by the varieties Avocado Seeds & Grains Dinner Rolls, Take & Bake Avocado Bread and Avocado Seeds & Grains Ciabatta Buns.
Clean label, health benefits and unique taste
Today's consumer wants more than a snack to satisfy hunger or a pastry for a moment of guilty pleasure. They look for ingredients that add nutritional value and health benefits, aiming to turn food into medicine.
But, regardless of what's in fashion, taste remains the most important motivating factor for the consumer, looking beyond the simple savory taste for something that leaves the everyday, invokes escape, excitement, nostalgia or exploration. ABC thus pioneers a unique approach to current trends, paving the way for other manufacturers to explore this opportunity.
Bread with sunflower seeds and grains such as oats and whole wheat, with the addition of perfectly ripe avocado fruit, is a product full of powerful nutrients such as healthy fats, fiber, antioxidants, with a clean label and a unique taste. for the time being Avocado Seeds & Grains Bread is sold in stores across the United States and online, but company representatives are optimistic about the brand's growing popularity.
A dark side of getting the tasty avocado fruit
Although appropriate Tastewise social media conversations about avocado toast have dropped 85,38% in the past year, America's insatiable appetite for the fruit has not.
U.S. demand has more than tripled since 2000 — Americans now consume nearly 3 billion pounds of avocados each year — and 90 percent of the produce comes from Mexico, the world's leading avocado producer. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that in 2003, the country imported about 55 million kilograms of avocados from Mexico, but this amount jumped to 2,25 billion kilograms as of 2019.
And to keep up with demand, the country's forests are being destroyed. An organization report Climate Rights International (CRI) – rightly titled "Unholy Guacamole" – shows that, in the last decade, more than 70.000 hectares of Mexican forests have been cleared to grow this fruit.
The need to adopt measures
Even more shocking is the cartels' involvement in maintaining an industry worth billions of dollars a year, often resorting to intimidation, kidnapping and killing activists who dare to oppose uncontrolled deforestation.
Added to this are the enormous amounts of water used by farmers, often illegally extracted from rivers, springs and underground aquifers, causing widespread water shortages for local communities, according to CRI.
Then, we also have to take into account the deterioration of the soil, which leads to landslides, but also the forest fires caused intentionally to remove the native vegetation. And it is estimated that the area of Michoacán used for avocado crops could increase by more than 80% by 2050.
The authors of the report point to the failure of the Mexican authorities to stem the tide of destruction and the urgent need to adopt and implement regulations and policies to avoid a climate catastrophe and to be able to continue enjoying the benefits of avocado consumption.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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